Microsoft delivers strong quarter on Windows 7, Office upgrade cycle

Microsoft’s first quarter handily topped expectations as the company continued to ride an upgrade cycle for Windows 7 and Office.

The company reported fiscal first quarter net income of $5.41 billion, or 62 cents a share, on revenue of $16.2 billion, up 25 percent from a year ago. The year-ago figure includes deferred revenue though so revenue growth was more like 13 percent. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 55 cents a share on revenue of $15.8 billion…